Downtown Pittsburgh restaurant fined for hiding health alert

The Allegheny County Health Department has fined a Pittsburgh restaurant $800 for hiding a yellow health alert notice posted on a front window behind two large potted plants.

Authorities said a health inspector posted the notice on a front window at the Chinatown Inn downtown July 24 after finding 13 violations, including a fruit fly infestation and food not being kept at safe temperatures.

The department said an off-duty inspector saw the notice was obscured by two plants -- inside and outside the window -- the next day.

An inspector doing a follow-up visit saw the health alert was hidden before he replaced it with a green notice after determining the most serious violations were corrected.